January of this year, 2010, the weather stayed so cold in St. Louis, Missouri and
Alton, Illinois that the bald eagles were cruising over houses in hopes of a quick meal. They could not access fish that were at the bottom of the river and had gathered together. (see pic 1)


Some kind souls decided t o feed the eagles so they would survive the cold spell. They gathered fish and started feeding the group of eagles huddled on the shore. (pic 2)

The photos below show what happened. A former teaching colleague took these photos in front of his home.
Incredible!

Feeding the Eagles!


A beautiful morning feeding the eagles, Jan. 2010

Once the fish were thrown, the eagles did not seem to fear the good Samaritans and word spread fast!

Eagles vying for the fish. January, 2010.


No zoom lens used here! The photographer was this close!


Here are the men who were feeding them. So close!!
As you know, it was not too long ago that the American Bald Eagle was an endangered species.

That is one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. We have Bald Eagles in Colorado but not in those numbers and so close to people. Thank you for sharing the pics.

My husband has an eagle collection. I can't wait to show him these photos. Simply amazing!

I hope it's a sign!!!!!!!!!!!

That is amazing! Thank you for sharing these with us :D:D:D

Wow! Beautiful, beautiful pictures! Thank you so much for sharing these. I love to see this sort of thing!

This is incredible! Thank you for sharing these pictures.

OMGosh!!! That is the most incredible thing I think I have ever seen...Beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing :D

They are such an impressive bird. I have had the honor of working with them at my work. To hold one, they take up my whole torso, is so amazing. Their feet are as big as my hand and thier talons almost as long as my fingers! Thier beaks are pretty scarey though!
What an incredible, incredible sight it must have been to see that many HEALTHY eagles!
Thank you for showing us!

AWESOME!!! I LOVE it when I can get close to them!!! Good people to help them out. :-D

does anyone know how i could have inserted the pics in the proper place within the text? like this:


blah blah blah blah

[picture]

blah blah blah blah blah

[picture]

blah blah blah blah

[picture]

They are so gorgeous!

In the spot where you posted pic 1 and pic 2 and so on, that is where you would write about each pic. Not sure if there is a limit on how many words or letters you can use but that is where you can describe each picture.

I would have loved to had experieced that. So incredible and such wonderful people. Wow!!!!

Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!This is so amazing I have goose-bumps

The text seems to say that the photos and eagle feeding took place in the St. louis and Alton areas, however, I believe that they were taken in Homer, AK. Frannie from AK can you confirm this?

Assuming that I'm correct, the person who feeds the eagles was a woman labeled "the eagle lady", her real name is Jean Keene. She passed away this past year, however, for many, many years she has fed the eagles there during the winter by gathering handouts from local fishermen and businesses. The feedings do not occur in the summer. Her home was an old trailer which was surrounded by old stuff she collected and you can see part of her "yard" in the last photo - dead trees, fishing floats, etc. Her trailer sat in the middle of an RV camping area and in photo one you can see the timbers that mark the edges of some of the spots.

When she passed away, folks in Homer continued the feedings but I'm not sure whether they are still doing it or not since there was a lot of concern that by hand-feeding the eagles she was interfering with nature's schedule.

Here is one link that shows a little more, but you can find other videos by googling "eagle lady homer alaska".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYWno...eature=related

kttb I do believe you are correct. When I first looked at these pics, I too thought how amazing until I wondered where in Missori and Illinois they have water that blue and pretty and the gorgeous tall mtns in the background.
I immediately thought of Alaska and then read your post. I watched several of the movies and it sure looks to me like you are right.
Sorry butterflywing, but I think your friend sold you a bill of goods. However, I thank you for posting as I did not know about this lady.

Incredible!!

OMG - that is absolutely amazing! What a great cause to support!

You are so very lucky. what a magnificent sight.

Wow that is amazing, to see all of those beautiful birds

It definitely is Homer, Alaska. I've been there 4 times over the past 10 years to photograph them. Jean Keene started feeding them about 28 years ago before there were laws about feeding. She was grandfathered the right to continue with the feeding once laws were passed prohibiting feeding. She passed in ~Nov 2008 at which time it became illegal for anyone else to continue. However, one of the men helping her received permission to continue through March of 2009 because there was concern that suddenly stopping the feeding could mean starvation for some of the eagles. As of April 2009, the Homer City Council's ordinance prohibiting feeding went back into effect. I'm not aware of any studies taking place regarding the survival of the 200+ eagles that used to gather there, nor have I heard what effect there was to any eagles arriving in Nov 2009.

That said, there are eagles that winter in Alton, Ill and they do have an active eagle viewing (not feeding) program along the Mississippi River below a lock/dam. However, there are no 8,000+ ft high mountains in the visible area and the Mississippi River is only about 1/10th the width of Kachemak Bay at Homer, AK

eaglephotog, thanks for the education. Such beautiful birds,

Eaglephotog,

did you just join to tell us the photos were from Homer? or do you have a quilting interest? Inquiring minds want to know!

thanks for the photos, I sure enjoyed them

We live in south central MO we raise registered Angus cattle and my son-in-law had a calf either born dead or died soon thereafter and he saw two bald eagles eating the carcass this past winter. Guess they are actually some sort of vulture.

Ya I am almost certain some of those pics were taken here in the Homer, AK area.

ok should have read further. I see credit has been paid. Sure miss the Eagle Lady.

[quote=ktbb]The text seems to say that the photos and eagle feeding took place in the St. louis and Alton areas, however, I believe that they were taken in Homer, AK. Frannie from AK can you confirm this?

Yes, I recognized the photos and the bay in the background. Homer is 15 mi from where I live. I see eagles all the time on the beach and have had a few in my back yard too.